Guilty Verdict In Stalking Death

Confession Describes How A Robbery Turned Deadly

A convicted felon who admitted he was looking for someone to rob to get money for drugs was convicted Thursday of murdering a North Side woman during a home invasion.

Family members of Renee Rondeau hugged and wept as Criminal Court Judge John Moran delivered his verdict following a seven-day bench trial.

Andre Griggs, 33, wiped his face with his hands as the guilty verdict was pronounced by Moran, who pointed to Griggs' confession as the most damning piece of evidence because it contained details "only the killer would know."

Griggs' co-defendant, Benita Johnson, 30, was found guilty by a jury on Tuesday. Both were convicted of murder, home invasion and armed robbery.

Assistant Cook County State's Attorneys David Gaughan and Maureen Feerick said they would seek the death penalty because the murder was committed during a forcible felony.

Rondeau, 29, was stalked by the defendants as she walked from a health club to her apartment in the 400 block of West Barry Avenue on Oct. 31, 1994.

According to Griggs' confession, they confronted Rondeau as she put her key into the lock, and when she screamed, he slapped her and forced her up to her second-floor apartment.

There, according to the confession, they forced her to give them her bank card personal identification number. Then Johnson held Rondeau at gunpoint while he went to search for valuables. When Griggs left the room, Rondeau attempted to flee and struggled with Johnson until Griggs came up from behind and choked her, the statement said.

When Rondeau became unconscious, Griggs dragged her into the bedroom and strangled her with his belt, according to the confession.

The two fled, stopping at a bank at 34th Street and King Drive where they used the card to withdraw $300. Although the security camera was not working, another customer later gave police enough of a description for police to make a composite sketch, according to the evidence.

Months later, an informant who knew Griggs saw the sketch and went to authorities.

Rondeau was born in Africa to Gordon and Elaine Rondeau who were then serving in the Peace Corps. She grew up in Washington, D.C., Germany and Georgia, and had studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and taught English in Japan. In Chicago, she was working for a Northbrook consulting firm.

Outside Moran's courtroom, Rondeau's parents said they would not achieve closure in their daughter's death unless Moran ensured that Griggs and Johnson would never be free again.

"Anything less than a permanent sentence . . . will make a farce out of the system," Gordon Rondeau said. "Our job has just begun. We will not abandon our mission to turn things around."

The couple have formed crime awareness groups with several aims but particularly focusing on the early release of convicted felons.

"If this guy had been taken care of before, my daughter would be alive today," Gordon Rondeau said.

Griggs, who admitted that he and Johnson had committed a robbery on the West Side hours before they killed Rondeau, was previously convicted and sent to prison for burglary and possession of narcotics.